South-east Asian leaders have agreed to take measures to build an ASEAN travel corridor arrangement structure to promote critical business travel within the country.

In a joint statement released at the 37th ASEAN Summit, which took place on 12 November and was virtually hosted by Vietnam, the leaders noted that such an arrangement would necessitate the creation of a shared collection of protection measures to protect public health in the face of Covid-19.

Travellers would also be expected to comply strictly with the existing public health legislation laid down by the receiving countries' authorities.

The ASEAN Coordinating Council, supported by the ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group on Public Health Emergencies, has been tasked to coordinate and oversee the development of an ASEAN travel corridor arrangement framework.

This plan will build on existing bilateral travel corridors established between the individual ASEAN member states and those established outside the region with partners, the regional group said in a statement. For instance, with ten countries, including ASEAN members Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Vietnam, Singapore has already developed green lanes.

Furthermore, the leaders added that they are not preventing the application of the system in the future to other types of travel.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo is calling for the area travel bubble to come into force by early 2021. Indonesia had suggested the move earlier in June, which was supported by Thailand and Malaysia, but other countries did not indicate their support for the arrangement, the study said.